Prepare & Prevent

With preparation and a plan, kids can learn to reject pornography. It’s not rocket science! It’s brain science.

We’re glad you’re here! We want to help.

It’s agonizing for most parents to even think of talking to young children about pornography and internet safety.

Your parents didn’t recognize the need to talk with you about pornography, so it’s hard to know how or when to start! Your children are growing up in a different world than you did–a world where a predatory porn industry is seeking to hook your vulnerable children as early as possible.

Parenting has never been easy, but mobile devices with high speed internet access to hard core material has made it even more challenging.

We know you have questions and concerns. What’s the right age to begin these conversations? Will talking about it make things worse by increasing my child’s curiosity? How do you define “pornography” for a child without depriving them of their innocence?

We get it. However, when it comes to kids and pornography exposure, here’s the truth:

When parents face this danger head-on, kids don’t have to face it alone.

You don’t have to face it alone, either. Our goal is to help you, one step at a time, to educate yourself and then empower your kids against the dangers of pornography.

And what are the dangers?

Addiction. Viewing pornography can become a lifelong addiction, one that may be more difficult to overcome than drugs or alcohol. Addiction can lead to poor performance in school, risky sexual behavior and mental health issues like depression.

Extremely violent and degrading content. Today’s internet pornography includes group sex, same sex, bestiality, portrayals of rape and child abuse pornography. We won’t go into the violent, graphic and degrading practices in today’s porn, but it’s easily accessible to kids,they are looking at it and being damaged by it.

Unhealthy attitudes towards sex. Internet pornography and other forms of erotic media normalize sexual violence and deviance, infecting kids with warped ideas about sexual intimacy. Porn teaches that sex is a form of self-gratifying diversion, not a sacred way to build a connection with someone you love, trust and are committed to.

Sexual Abuse. Because children are wired to imitate what they see, access to porn is fueling the skyrocketing rates of child on child sexual abuse.

Destroyed families. Pornography addiction ruins marriages and even makes young adults less likely to ever want to get married.

Unfortunately, even good kids are biologically vulnerable to the pull of porn, especially if they haven’t been warned and taught how to reject it. Thankfully, you can educate them while they’re young and before they get overcome by their innate curiosity.

For Internet Safety Your Kids Need an Internal Filter

And although filters are important, they are simply not enough. Because every mobile device can potentially be a portal to porn, no parent is able to completely shelter their kids from the worst the internet has to offer. Dr. Donald Hilton, a neurosurgeon and respected expert on pornography addiction agrees:

“While we must continue to fight the good fight legally and societally, we are way beyond avoidance as our only defense. Pornography wants you, it wants your husband or wife, it wants your son and daughter, your grandchildren, and your in-laws. It doesn’t share well, and it doesn’t leave easily. It is a cruel master, and seeks more slaves.”

It’s difficult and even agonizing to think of talking to young kids about pornography. You’re not alone in that feeling. And that’s why you’re here, because you’re a proactive parent, and you realize your kids need to be prepared with an early warning.

The Benefits of Early Warning Outweigh Any Drawbacks

The first benefit may be to you! Parents who begin these discussions with their kids report feeling like a huge weight has been liftedoff their shoulders. They feel closer to their kids and better about themselves as parents because they’ve mustered the courage to tackle the tough stuff.

But the main benefits will be for your kids.

Your kids will suddenly have an ally (you!) in a very real battle to keep their minds free from the images and lies promoted by the porn industry and in everyday media. When peers pressure them to look, they’ll know what’s expected of them and why. And they’ll know that you’ll be there to praise their efforts when they report back.

Your kids will feel comfortable coming and talking with you whenever they have questions. Think of the burden they’ll shed–the burden of keeping pornography exposure a secret from you (and most kids do) out of fear of shaming or punishment.

Their confidence will increase as you trust your kids with important information about the internet safety and the dangers in their world. Turns out most kids really like to be trusted!

Finally, your children will have a plan. They’ll know exactly how to protect themselves in any exposure situation and, just as importantly, how to deal with the memories that can disturb them afterwards.

As one mom, Robin, told us,

“It’s not as bad as you think. My kids took it really well.”

The Quick-Start Guide for Proactive Parents

We know you’re time is precious, and you don’t have hours and hours to search the internet looking for answers. So we’ve done it for you! We’ve compiled expert advice in one convenient Protect Young Minds™ Quick-Start Prevention Guide: The Essentials–Prepare to Porn-Proof Your Child.

Learn the Basics

Find out why good kids get pulled into porn

See what pediatricians are saying about the impacts of pornography

Discover why pornography exposure is being called a public health crisis

Prepare Yourself

Plan a good time to talk about internet safety.

Learn why you should be the first one to warn your child about pornography.

Find out 5 ways to get more comfortable speaking about pornography with your kids.

You Have the Power to Prepare Your Kids to Reject Pornography

Preparing kids to protect themselves from porn really works! Here are a few success stories parents have shared with us:

My husband and I sat down with our two oldest kids, ages 9 and 6 and went over the CAN DO Plan. Three days later my oldest was exposed to serious pornography for the first time. He told me everything that night and said, “I knew exactly what to do. I was scared, but I knew what to do.” He handled it absolutely right and I am so grateful…that he was ready.

Amy, mother of 4

We taught our son, Ryker, what pornography is, why it’s dangerous, and what to do if he saw it. One afternoon as he was walking home from school he stopped with his friend at his mailbox. His friend pulled out a magazine that my son recognized as pornography. Ryker told his friend, “That’s pornography and you shouldn’t look at it.” His friend then asked him what pornography was so my son explained that it’s when people have little or no clothes on and are showing their private parts. The boy didn’t seem to care much and kept looking at the magazine so my son said, “You know that can really hurt your brain because you can get addicted.” The boy said, “Oh” and put the magazine underneath the other mail. I was so impressed that my son was able to verbally explain this to his friend as well as protect himself!

Alexa, mother of an 8 year-old boy

An 11 year old girl was on a school bus coming home from a field trip when a classmate pulled out his mobile device and started showing her and her girlfriend pornography. The 11 year old girl had been trained with the CAN DO Plan and immediately looked away, while her friend kept on looking. Just as her mom had asked her to do, this porn-proofed girl came home and told her mom exactly what had happened.